Authorities on Thursday released the identity of Jeong Jae-hwan, 24, who is accused of stabbing a friend to death while the two were drinking together.
The North Gyeongsang Province Police Agency published Jeong's name, age and photo on its website at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. The disclosure will remain in effect for 30 days.
It is the first time the agency has released a suspect's personal information in roughly two years, since it identified Seo Dong-ha — then 34 — who killed his ex-girlfriend in front of her family in November 2024.
Jeong is accused of stabbing a friend, identified only as A, multiple times with a bladed weapon at his apartment in Hayang-eup, Gyeongsan, at around 4 a.m. on July 4.
According to police, Jeong had been drinking with A and other friends when A brought up Jeong's past record of dating violence. Jeong allegedly flew into a rage and attacked A.
A managed to call another friend to report the attack before dying. That friend alerted police, who arrived at the scene and found A dead. A second friend was also present in the apartment at the time of the killing, according to police.
After the attack, Jeong wandered naked to a nearby convenience store and other locations before returning to the scene, where police arrested him. He reportedly told investigators he had been too drunk to remember what happened and did not provide a detailed account of the incident.
A's family filed a complaint asking police to add charges of mutilating a corpse, but police declined to pursue that charge.
On Friday, police convened a personal information disclosure review committee, which voted to release Jeong's identity on the grounds that the crime was deemed brutal and its consequences severe, that sufficient evidence had been secured, and that disclosure was necessary in the public interest, including for crime prevention.
husn7@heraldcorp.com
